Have a Healthy Holiday Season!
by Peter Shankman
Mon, 12 Nov 2007 at 12:24 AM
updated Mon, 12 Nov 2007 at 12:39 AM
You realize what's coming up, don't you?
Worse than finals back in college. More dreaded than a cavity filling …
It's the holiday season in New York City.
"But wait," you're saying … "How could the holiday season in New York City be bad? How could it be anything but wonderful? Holidays mean parties, and shopping, and lots of treats to eat, and eggnog, and office gatherings, and candy on the desk, and going out for drinks and staying out late, and …"
See where I'm going here?
If you're fitness conscious in New York City, holidays are evil.
So with that, I present my top 10 tips: how to avoid gaining weight and looking like a small planet come January 1.
No. 10: Get off one subway stop before you normally do. Seriously — this is one of the easiest ways to burn off a few hundred extra calories a day. Live on 23rd Street? Get off at 28th. Live on 3rd off Smith? Get off at Bergen Street. Walk those extra blocks, and the calories from the fruitcake your co-worker brought in will disappear.
No. 9: Holiday parties don't have to be the enemy. Go and enjoy them. Just do this before you leave – have half of a head of lettuce. Seriously. The lettuce will totally fill you up, and by the time you get to the party, you'll be happy to just munch on a celery stick for the evening. Avoid the fried foods, and if you must eat, stick with the raw veggies and a few pieces of cheese. Try to eat as soon as you get there, and keep an eye on the time. After 9 p.m.? No more food.
No. 8: While everyone else has green M+M's on their desk, do something original, and have a tin full of almonds. Almonds are nature's health snack. Good fats, no carbs, and they taste good!
No. 7: The park's empty. Go for a run, or Rollerblade. Ever ski or snowboard? I found the Exboard, and it's an unbelievable workout! It's kicking my butt on a regular basis, and I'm not even good at it yet! The key is to try a new sport NOW, so when January 1 comes, and the NYRs (more on them later) are taking up the gym, you'll be outside doing something you've already fallen in love with back in November.
No. 6: Don't be a NYR. There's nothing worse for the hard-core gym rat than January 1. That's when every machine is taken over by New Year's Resolutioners. They show up, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, doing six hours at a time on the treadmill, sure that THIS is the year they'll drop the weight and look hot. Avoid using the gym for the first two weeks of January, but take heart: Come back on January 20, and 99% of them will be gone, never to return.
No. 5: Traveling? Pack the best workout tool in the world – a simple jump rope. Ten minutes of jumping rope is one of the best cardio workouts around. Not only does it work virtually every muscle in your body, but it's a killer heart workout — which will be great after you've ignored my rule #9 and gorged last night on fried dumplings at the office party. Ten bucks at Paragon.
No. 4: When you're on the road, explore new places! Go to Run the Planet and find a running partner in your mom and dad's town when you go home for Thanksgiving. Go to your gym and find out if they have partner privileges across the country. A lot of them do, and for $10 or $20 at the most, you can work out at a local gym, wherever you might be, from Los Angeles to Lisbon.
No. 3: The average Thanksgiving dinner? (Sit down for this one …) 2,500 calories. Yup. So follow some simple rules: It's not a $9.99 Las Vegas buffet. Two slices of turkey, the rest lean vegetables, and one starch. (Yes, stuffing counts as one starch.) Want seconds? Go play with the kids or the family dog. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize you're full. So stop eating. Walk away. Come back, you won't be hungry. Remember that if it's amazingly good, it's probably fattening. Butter and milk in mashed potatoes, for instance. Yeah. Be careful.
No. 2: Don't give up everything completely, or you'll never make it. But be smart about it. Gonna have that gingerbread latte from Starbucks? (And yes, they're my weakness, too …) Then make sure you let yourself have them on days you've worked out.
No. 1: Have fun. It's the holiday season. You're gonna cheat — it's what happens. So don't go too hard on yourself when you do, just make it up the next day. Remember: You're gonna have some days off this holiday season. The Friday after Thanksgiving, for instance, is a great day for Rollerblading — why? Because most of the city is gone! So go and have fun — any workout that's fun doesn't feel like a workout. And those are the best kind.
More tips soon, as we get closer to the holidays. Got one? Leave a comment. I want to know about it.
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